Monroe plans summer music festival for September

MONROE — Hoping to attract visitors and their dollars and bring the community together, the city is planning to host a musical festival this summer.

And the city is making some seed money available if needed.

The Monroe Music Fest is envisioned as an evening of rock, blues and jazz and other types of music.

The festival is scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m. Sept. 7 in Lake Tye, at 14964 Fryelands Blvd. SE. Tickets are planned to cost around $20 and are expected to be available through the Monroe Chamber of Commerce at choosemonroe.com and City Hall in the upcoming weeks.

The idea is to make the festival self-sustainable with ticket sales and sponsorships. If the festival is in need of funds, the City Council has approved $40,000 for the event.

The hope is that 2,500 people will attend — or enough of an audience to cover the costs, economic development manager Jeff Sax said.

The city also owns a portable stage and will rent equipment for the show, he said. Future events could be paid for by revenue from this summer festival.

There are plans to build a more permanent stage in the park for future concerts as well.

The show is set to feature three music acts with the main headliner being guitarist Keith Brock and a band comprised of artists from all around the country. Brock lives in Los Angeles and Monroe.

“It will be an All-Star band,” Brock said. “It’s not common to see these musicians in a place like Monroe. You would need to go to the Tacoma Dome and pay $100.”

The city and the chamber are planning to create a webpage to give more information about the event such as when tickets will go on sale and more about the acts.